


This, Our Clandestine Romance

by Twilight_Shadow_Songs



Series: Gotham Romance Trilogy [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond, DCU (Animated)
Genre: Coffee Shop, M/M, Violence, Weird Pairing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2018-01-26 21:05:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1702508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twilight_Shadow_Songs/pseuds/Twilight_Shadow_Songs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>with Deidre dumping him, Carter "Terminal" Wilson fully expected to remain single indefinitely- or till she took him back, whichever came first. What he did <i>not</i> expect was one Damian Wayne to take an interest in his personal life. </p><p>The proud Arabic princeling meets the proud American hit-man. Nobody said relationships were ever simple, did they?</p><p>Of course, nobody said it would be this <i>hard</i>, either</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hardly a beginning, is it?

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place at least five or six months after the end of my story One Year To Love. Yes, it's in the same universe. You could say that I'm experimenting with this particular pairing and I figured the best area to do it in would be my real!verse. I've been wanting to do this for _ages_. XD And since I accidentally got three weeks ahead of myself with One Year To Love, I figured that I had a little extra time for a quick chapter or two, but don't expect this to be updated regularly till after the first story is finished ;)

Carter didn’t know what to do with himself without Deidre. He had-quite unintentionally, mind- based his entire life around her, and he hadn’t realized it till she and her sister had broken up with him and J-Man to “work things out”. Which was fine and all, since they’d combined their personalities and become essentially one person. It was a little odd being alone after years of dating her, but as long as he kept working, Carter found it was a bit more bearable. He’d always been the “loner” of the Jokerz, anyway, it was just easier to ignore his friends and anything to do with Deidre than get caught up in the crushing depression he knew was waiting just around the corner of his psyche. 

“Hello, Carter! You’re early today” 

“I just figured I’d help open today”

“No problem, just don’t wear yourself out! A body needs some breaks now and then”

Yes, but if he paused, Deidre came unbidden into his head, losing her unique personality and becoming more like Delia. Deidre clinging to her sister like a lifeline, (“You hear that Dee Dee?” “I sure do Dee Dee”) and seeing them walking away. No, he couldn’t afford to pause, no matter what his boss for his new day job said. Carter pulled his elbow-length dyed black hair into an elastic band before going to the little locker room and switching his black skull t-shirt for his light blue work shirt, an apron and a little gold nametag. The Random Bean Coffee House was a tiny little corner café, but it did well business wise, so it paid well money wise. And tips weren’t half bad when most of the regulars and customers were teenage girls who were going through the “cute, dangerous boy” stage, and giggled if he put on a little act for them or let them look at the henna tattoos on his arms. A little mascara and eyeliner and they were putty in his hands, tipping a bit higher than they normally would have.

The boys who came in to ogle at him he treated basically the same, though he generally didn’t flirt and was more business-like. Carter didn’t swing that way, or at least, he’d never been attracted to another male. So when an imposing man in a suit walked in and sat by the window, the only thought Carter spared for him was ‘ _What’s a business man doing in here?_ ’ before walking over to take his order. Blue-green eyes attempted to metaphorically impale him, but he shrugged it off. He was used to people trying to get into his head. “Are you the only worker here?” Carter took a deep breath, smile still on his face though it was a bit more strained. “There’s Ace, but she’s on her break. And our boss is in the back so I guess you’re just stuck with me. Now what do you want?” The man gave him a gaging look before shrugging. “The quiche seems serviceable, and black coffee” Carter nodded and wrote it down in his little notebook, under “the ass in the suit by the window” for reference as to who had ordered what. 

Carter had been working at the Random Bean for at least three of the six months that Deidre and her family had been gone for. After the war, they’d skipped town till things had settled, and Carter had a feeling that they wouldn’t be back for a while. Still, it was a nice vacation, though he would have preferred spending it with Deidre. Still, he got company now and then from the couples like Ghoul and Terry (with whom Carter had finally made peace with) or Dot and Donnie. They came around his flat or his work just to make sure he hadn’t died or gotten addicted to anything. With Donnie going through rehab for his own addiction, Carter had a feeling Dot brought him along just to double-check against someone who’d know if Carter had gotten addicted. 

The man was tapping his fingers against the table and looking out the window when Carter returned with his food. Carter had to clear his throat in order for the man to look at him. One perfect eyebrow raised elegantly (did he pluck his eyebrows to get that shape, and did he practice that eyebrow raise in the mirror?) as Carter set his food down in front of him with a bit more force than really necessary, his smile still intact. “I hope you enjoy your meal” He said neutrally. The man chuckled, the chuckle eventually turning into a quiet, rumbling laughter that raised the hair on Carter’s arms.

“I don’t suppose you _spit_ in the quiche, did you?” 

“Spitting it would require effort. I only save effort for people who mean something to me” 

The man smirked. “Hmm…maybe I’ll change that” Carter’s eyes widened slightly. He wasn’t sure if this counted as sexual harassment or a threat to do bodily harm. “Carter, what’s going on?” Carter turned to see his boss, Abigail Arcane, but known as Abby to her workers, walking towards him. He turned back to his customer, intending to complain about the veiled…whatever it was. But the man was smiling like the Cheshire cat and Carter’s hair on the nape of his neck stood up to match his arms. This guy was rather creepy, and it was _Carter_ forming that opinion. Carter “Terminal” Wilson, the lord of creepy was getting a little creeped out. He didn’t like the feeling. 

Abby, on her part, just stared at the customer and put her hand on Carter’s arm. “Carter, honey, please tell me you didn’t insult Mr. Wayne here” Carter did a double-take. Well, the “I know him” thought _had_ been sort of bothering him. He knew it wasn’t Bruce Wayne; the man was getting silver in that black hair. And obviously it wasn’t Terry. Damian fucking Wayne, the devil of Gotham and the thorn in Ghoul’s side was sitting in front of him. Now he was regretting not spitting into his quiche. 

“Oh, no. Carter here has been quite polite and interesting! In fact, I enjoyed his service so much I’ll come back sometime” Carter could feel Abby’s delight as she beamed at Damian. Carter just glared at the smirking man. Really? Carter didn’t care if the guy was rich and influential, all he wanted to do was shoot him. Still… “Wonderful, sir. But you haven’t even tasted your food. Surely you would want to come for more than just good service?” He winced at the jab in his side Abby gave him but ignored it. He’d made that quiche this morning. It was one thing to have someone want to get back at him, but if they were going to throw away money just for petty pride, then they should come for good food, too. 

Damian smirked and shrugged, picking up a fork and taking a piece of the dish in front of him. Carter didn’t have to be a mind reader to tell Damian liked it. He just smirked and stood up a little straighter. “So I suppose we get a glowing review from Mr. Wayne, then?” Damian paused with another forkful halfway to his mouth and regarded Carter thoughtfully. “If you continue to impress me, yes” Abby practically squealed beside Carter, and for the first time the young man wondered what exactly he’d gotten himself into.


	2. Power Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Carter walks with Damian and the two discuss things.

It was exactly four days before Damian showed up in the Random Bean again, during the time when most of the school age girls, preparing for finals and graduation and summer, were crowded in for impromptu study sessions, last minute get togethers with friends, or unwinding after a stressful school day. Damian swept in like a bad omen and took a seat at one of the few empty tables, close to the middle of the room. Although, Carter wasn’t sure to be relieved that the man was in Ace’s serving area or not. Giving his reputation with girls, probably not. 

He kept a close eye on Damian with Ace, watching him actually succeed in charming her to a degree. Carter had never seen the woman smile for anything other than people getting drinks poured on them before. Whatever god that had bestowed this gift of charisma had been extremely liberal, thus neglecting the other poor sorry souls who deserved it more. Ace caught his eye and excused herself from Damian’s table. Carter quickly finished getting his table’s orders as well and met Ace in the kitchen. 

The emo girl tilted her head at him and shrugged. “He’s abrupt and condescending. Not my type” Carter looked from where Damian was waiting (again tapping his fingers on the tabletop) and back to Ace. She put a hand on his shoulder briefly. “He speaks highly of his father. Bruce saved me, once. And he talks about you. I can’t complain” Carter’s brow furrowed. “Wait, he _talks_ about me?” but Ace was already out of the kitchen with her tray loaded. Carter shook his head and got his own orders. Ace was probably only smiling at the mentions of Bruce Wayne, of whom she had an eternal soft spot for, since he saved her life from a brain aneurysm and the resulting subarachnoid hemorrhage. What would anything Damian Wayne had to say about Carter himself cause Ace to smile?

The café was small enough that, thankfully, Carter could make enough food early in the day before lunch and dinner rush to cover the whole day, but on busy days like this, they also had to bring in another cook to compensate for all the business. It didn’t really bother Carter, he loved cooking but he preferred being on his feet moving and talking to people, than in a kitchen all day. It was all the better to people-watch waiting tables, anyway. Maybe Damian might have been disappointed, but since both Carter and the “official” cook were both just following Abby’s recipes for everything on the menu, he doubted it. He doubted Damian could even taste the difference, anyway. 

Carter kept his eye on Damian as he worked his tables. Thankfully the man didn’t seem too interested in the teenaged girls around him, which was a little blessing. A few times Carter caught his eyes, which was borderline creepy since it meant that _Damian_ was watching _Carter_ as well, though since he also seemed to be watching Ace as well, it was probably just Damian seeing if he could get away with watching Ace while Carter was there, and this did highly annoy the young man. Carter remained a friendly server to his customers though, used to covering up anger and other negative emotions with smiles from the years of living with his mother. No need to blow up on some poor kid just because he was annoyed by Damian Wayne.

~*~

It felt like an eternity before Damian was done with his meal and coffee and paid. Carter watched by one of his tables, waiting for the aloof man to get out of the café so he could get back to focusing on his work. Just then, several things happened at once.

One girl tripped over her feet and dropped her sandwich and a plastic water bottle.

A playful couple accidentally knocked into Damian, throwing him off balance and causing him to step on the plastic bottle.

Damian slipped and began falling backwards.

Carter cursed, slammed his serving tray down on the table and did a running lunge for Damian, remembering his football career. 

It all happened in the span of a few seconds and by the time Carter’s brain had caught up with events, he was in a half-kneeling position holding Damian Wayne in his arms. The man himself seemed a little caught off guard and only looked up at Carter as Carter looked down at him. Damian smirked. “My hero…? But forgive me if I don’t kiss you to show my appreciation” Carter very nearly let go of him for that comment. However, he struggled up with Damian helping to get themselves sorted out. “Yea, I’d prefer monetary gratitude, thanks. Or you know, a properly working oven in my apartment, but whatever” He ignored the odd look from Damian and ran a hand through his long hair. 

Damian didn’t look particularly shaken, but better safe than sorry. Damian looked up at the clock and chewed on his lip. About sixteen minutes left before his shift ended… he sighed and gestured for Abigail to come over to where he was from where she had been watching. “Hey Abbey, I think I’m going to get off work a little early, is that okay?” She clasped her hands, also looking at the clock. “…Well, it’s not too long till your shift ends anyway, but use some of the extra time to see if Mr. Wayne here is alright, okay?” Carter smiled slightly. He never knew if he was manipulating Abby, or if they just thought that alike. “No problem boss” Damian raised an eyebrow. “I’m perfectly fine” Carter shrugged. “Boss’s orders, so just give me a minute and I can walk you towards wherever you’re headed. Car or otherwise” the older man was silent for a long moment before shrugging. “I need to get back to Wayne Corp; it’s not too far from here. I suppose you can walk with me to the entrance” 

Carter went to the back and changed his apron, nametag and blue shirt for his black tank-top, light black and red jacket since there was a little wind, and shook his hair out of his pony. It felt good having it free. Carter then met Damian just outside the Random Bean. Damian’s eyes widened at the changed appearance (funny, his eyes were more green in the shade, and more blue in the sunlight) and Carter smirked. “What? Is there something on my face?” He asked with pseudo-innocence and Damian snorted, rolling his eyes. “Let’s get going. Being seen with a punk like you would be an embarrassment” Carter’s fists clenched for a moment as his nostrils flared. He could _punch_ Damian, he really could. However, he just relaxed and gave the man a hard smile. This was his fault; he’d wanted to do this. And besides Damian would be out of his hair soon, anyway. 

They walked side by side, Carter’s hands shoved into the pockets of his blue jeans as Damian walked with his hands loose by his sides, looking for all the world like he owned it. He probably did. “So, why didn’t you protest walking with me? I’m a big boy, a little tumble isn’t going to hurt me” Carter froze. Dammit, the guy was smart. Of course, he was CEO of Wayne Corp, but still… “Because if _I_ didn’t some girl probably would have” He muttered. Damian gave a low, rumbling chuckle. “Oh, how noble of you! however, you can’t tail me everywhere, and you can’t protect every girl in the city” Carter huffed, looking away from Damian and at a little kid, crying with a scraped knee as his pig-tailed sister tried to comfort him. “I don’t want to protect every girl in the city. Just _my_ girls” He muttered without thinking.

“And who are your girls?” Carter stumbled, pulse stuttering. This, this was what the wolf sounded like in the Red Riding Hood story. ( _”Grandma, why are your teeth so big?” **”All the better to eat you with, my dear”**_ ) “It doesn’t matter who they are. If I told you, you’d probably go out of your way to pursue them!” He snapped, and Damian laughed. “You say that as though you know me” Carter snorted in derision. “The whole city, maybe the whole country knows your habits! You just have to pick up any magazine or newspaper and if not on the cover, then you’re somewhere inside it. “Demon of Gotham, Playboy millionaire #2, it goes on” 

Damien’s eyes narrowed and he looked frightening. He advanced on Carter, hemming him in and guiding him, forcing the young man against a wall. “You want to believe rumors, hearsay and _lies_ about me?” Carter swallowed in an effort to moisten a suddenly dry mouth. “You are proving the stories right” He managed. Carter was tall, but Damian was maybe four or five inches taller, forcing him to look up into those thunderous eyes. Damian gave a scary smile. “Maybe that’s on purpose. If you can’t rule with love, rule with fear, am I right?” Carter had had enough and his hands closed into tight fists. “Back off or I’ll break your nose” He said quietly, sounding just as dangerous as Damian looked. “You don’t rule me” 

Damian’s eyes flickered and he allowed Carter to get away from the wall. He began walking towards the Wayne Building, and Carter followed. Damian looked behind with some surprise. “I thought I’d scared you off” Carter rolled his eyes. His heart was beating faster than it should have, but he’d survive. “Don’t flatter yourself. I know two girls who are scarier than you” completely true at the moment. Damian didn’t look exactly pleased at this statement, but he didn’t comment. 

When they got to the big glass doors of the tall building that housed Wayne Corp, Carter breathed a silent sigh of relief. Now he could go home and get rid of the nasty feeling of dealing with Damian Wayne. The man smirked and began going into the building before pausing. “After today, I think I’ll go to the Random Bean every day. The food is good, and so’s the service” He laughed at what Carter guessed was probably a horrified expression on his face before the Demon of Gotham disappeared into the building.

Carter slammed his fist against a nearby stone column. “God dammit!”


	3. Stray Cats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Damian learns a little more about Terminal, and they feed a stray cat.

Damian sighed as he waited for the clock to hit 12 so he could go to the Random Bean and bother the little upstart waiter there. It had quickly become one of his favorite past-times. The kid royally pissed him off, and made him interested. How to make him tremble in fear, could he actually make the waiter so angry he attacked him and got himself fired? He hadn’t found an ordinary civilian this prideful before. And Terry and Ghoul didn’t count. 

The moment the clock turned he was pushing away from his desk and walking across his office to the door. He paused at his secretary’s desk and smiled winningly at her. “I’ll be out for lunch, expect me back in an hour” He told her and she nodded, having been there too long (and already having been one of his toys for a time) to really fall for his charms. “I’ll text you if anything comes up” He smiled and waved before getting to the elevator. Down from the clouds and realms of the gods he went, down to the place where mortals dwelled and toiled. Where a very interesting gothic punk resided. 

When he entered the Random Bean he could almost _feel_ those dark brown, almost black, eyes staring daggers into him from across the room. He’d metaphorically whacked a badger on the nose with a stick, what else did he expect from the little badger but hostility? It was what made this more fun. Damian sat down at a table and waited for either Ace or Carter to come up to him. He had taken it upon himself to memorize Carter’s schedule to maximize the amount of time he could annoy him, seeing as he got off his shift at 1-1:30, Damian had optimal time to push his buttons before he had to return to work. 

It was Carter who served him. He was like a thundercloud though he was, as usual, smiling. Damian leaned forward, matching Carter’s chilly smile. Carter leaned forward slightly, his pony dropping over his shoulder. “You have been coming every day for two weeks! I think you’ve proven your point” Damian’s eyebrows went up. Was he surrendering? It didn’t look like it; he was just trying to get Damian away from him. The older man smirked. “Somehow, I don’t share your opinion. Besides, this place is quaint! I think I’ll keep coming here” His smile was downright feral, challenging, and Carter sneered at it. “Then stop trying to get a rise out of me. I just want to do my job!” Damian chuckled. “Alright, do your job. You haven’t asked me what I want today” Carter sighed. “Alright sir. What will you…what…I-I…um…” 

Carter was looking towards the door and Damian turned to see what the kid was looking at. There was a tiny, blond girl with longish hair chatting with friends. She was in a red tank top and black jeans. Her hazel eyes were large and warm. Damian narrowed his eyes at the girl. During this time Carter was supposed to be giving his undivided attention to Damian, not ogling over a girl with no chest. “You know her?” He asked lightly, working through the pissed off feeling as he turned back to Carter. The waiter shook himself as though from a trance and gripped his pad tightly. “No. No I don’t. Now, what do you want?” Damian frowned thoughtfully at him, but ordered. He’d ask Ace what was wrong with her workmate later. 

~*~

Damian watched with interest as the girl threw Carter off. He stumbled and nearly dropped things, forgot orders and just generally looked like he was in a fog. Finally, his boss came over and talked to him. Damian polished off his sandwich at around the same time. Ace came over to him and he paid his fee to her. “What’s wrong with him?” He asked, watching Carter talk with Abby. Ace shrugged. “Bad break-up. Blondie there looks like his ex. The photo is in his locker” Huh. Well that was… _interesting_. Damian looked at the punk with new eyes and new interest. It explained a little about his defensive bad mood, though Damian got the feeling he had that usually. But after the break-up, did it just get worse? Damian stood up as Carter went to the back. 

When Carter walked out of the Random Bean Damian moved from where he’d been waiting. Carter swore under his breath and Damian chuckled. “You get the rest of the day off?” Carter growled and ran a hand through his hair. Shiny, thick, healthy-looking, Damian had a feeling that most girls were jealous of the kid’s hair. “Yea, she said since I’ve been working overtime for…awhile…that I’d earned an early shift. Or twenty” it was a fact, that was worrying. He was completely serious in a non-ironic way. Damian just shook his head. When Carter began walking, he followed. “Since you have off, might as well walk with you” It wasn’t really spur of the moment, but Damian operated on a “nothing’s set in stone till you act or speak, because actions and words can’t be taken back’ 

Carter halted and turned to Damian. “What do you _want_ with me?! I just want to be left alone. I don’t want to deal with spoilt, petty heir who-” both of their attentions were taken by the sudden sound of a trashcan lid being knocked to the ground. A skinny cat peered at them and hissed. Damian went to the cat without thinking, ignoring the person beside him. The trashcan was a few feet into an alleyway, with the cat near the entrance. But the closer Damian got, the more the cat retreated, until he was hiding behind the can. Damian crouched down and offered his hand to the animal, but it batted his hand away, hissing again. There was a soft sigh above and just behind him, and then Carter was kneeling next to him.

“You’ll never make friends with him that way” He said, and from his jacket pocket came a small plastic bag. “I keep these for a friend’s cat, but I can make more” Damian looked at him. He _made_ the treats? Carter opened the bag and pulled some of the pungent treats out. “Here, puss. A peace offering” the cat sniffed his outstretched hand but refused to take any of the treats till Carter placed a couple on the ground in front of him. The cat sniffed the treats and eyed the two men before cautiously trying one. He took another before carefully going to Carter’s hand where the other treats were. Damian watched in small awe at how quickly the alley cat warmed up to Carter simply because he had something the cat wanted. After a few minutes, Carter looked up at Damian, motioning for him to hold his hand out, and then poured some of the treats into his waiting palm. 

The cat finished the treats in Carter’s hand and nosed the palm, looking for more. Damian placed his hand close to Carter’s and the cat skittered back, fur raised. However, the treats were a temptation and he came back to Damian, gingerly taking the treats out of the large hand. Damian grinned widely and Carter chuckled softly. The cat’s head shot up, then went back down slowly. When there were no more treats Damian’s hand was nuzzled by a greasy, furry little head. When the cat decided it wasn’t getting any more food it licked Damian’s palm before shooting down the alleyway and out of sight. Suddenly there was a hand in Damian’s face and he reeled slightly, before realizing it was just Carter offering him a hand up. He waved the hand away and got up on his own. 

Carter snorted and then looked at his hands. “We need to wash our hands. Who knows what sort of diseases that cat has” the mostly empty treat bag was left on the ground as Carter gingerly took Damian’s hand for a moment to tug him out of the alley. As soon as they got onto the main street Carter let go and began walking towards a corner gas station. Damian followed and looked around with slight distaste at the tacky place. Carter sighed and shook his head, entering the bathroom before Damian. He locked the door, forcing the Wayne to wait until Carter was done. He ignored a teenaged girl staring at him for as long as possible before glaring at her. “What?!” She squeaked and retreated behind the counter. Carter came out of the bathroom just then and rubbed his forehead. “And I thought _I_ had bad social skills…” 

“Funny. I thought you were just perfect at socializing” Damian murmured, and Carter shot him a look. Then Damian went into the bathroom, trying to ignore the cracked mirror, graffitied walls, dirty floor and slight smell. Did people notice this, or were they oblivious? He washed his hands quickly simply so he could get out of there. When he re-entered the main station, Carter was at the front, flirting with the girl that Damian had scared. He was doing pretty good for someone obviously not over a bad break-up, but maybe it was because the girl looked nothing like the girl in the café. Either way, it made him glad that he’d scared her, though ironically that may have been _why_ Carter was flirting. 

Damian grabbed the closest thing to his hand-a bag of jerky- and stalked over to where the counter was. He waited for Carter to finish paying for his items, a bag of chips, a hot dog and an energy drink, before looming over the girl and causing her giggle to die on her lips. The best thing in Damian’s day was being regarded with fear and awe from people like this. It highly annoyed him that he didn’t get that with Carter, but the kid made up for it by being fun to tease and by continuing to be interesting. He gave her a half smile. “You caught me off guard earlier” She blinked and returned his smile hesitantly. “We all get lost in our thoughts” She offered, and he smiled as though relieved. “Yes! And it can happen at the most random times” He could practically feel Carter’s stare burning holes in his back. She brushed her hair behind her ear. “Yea! It happens to me all the time, don’t worry about it” She was blushing a little and when he gave her a wide, happy smile, she looked down. 

“Thank you” He told her warmly before walking out of the gas station. Carter was beside him a few minutes later. “You are a complete asshole, you do realize that” it wasn’t biting anger, just a weary disappointment, which rankled Damian more than he thought it should have. “I thought being nice was part of having “good social skills”” he said with some amount of acid, and Carter rubbed his forehead. “Giving her hope was being mean. Trying to do it to make _me_ look bad is just an asshole thing to do. And it’s not hurting me, it’s hurting her” Damian snorted. “The world is cruel” Carter sighed. “Yea. Believe me; I know that one better than most. See you later, Mr. Wayne”

Seeing him walk away like that shouldn’t have bothered him. It was probably the comment and knowing about the girlfriend. Yes, the world could be cruel. Unfortunately, Damian probably knew that better than even Carter. He took a deep breath and walked to the Wayne Building.


	4. Slow Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian notices Carter is working a little too much, his (unexplainable) popularity also makes it necessary for Abby to need to hire more waiters, and maybe expand, and Damian comes to the conclusion that Ace is really an Ifrit in disguise.

People had started noticing that Damian Wayne was frequenting one little café every day for lunch. There were, of course, many speculations as to _why_ , but only Terry had gotten anywhere near what was going on. “I don’t see why you dog people who annoy you” he’d said. “If she bothers you, avoid her” Of course, nobody guessed the object of interest was actually male. Usually, Damian ripped the lives of offending men apart. He didn’t play with them. Playing was reserved for women, Stewart, and family. Normally.

Because of the habitual frequenting of the Random Bean, it was fit to bursting. Damian was _not_ as famous as his sisters, this was true, but he _was_ on America’s Top Ten Bachelor list (number three), and had a reputation. People noticing him wherever he went was part of his life. It was because he was part Arabic, he knew it. The dark black hair was his mother’s, the way it slightly curled and the texture of it. He had her large almond-shaped eyes as well, and her skin-tone. He looked like his father as well, of course, but exotic enough to never be mistaken for anyone else. He loved and hated it in equal turns. 

Someone scrambled out of a chair for him when he walked in, and Ace shooed the companion out of the opposite seat, the girl looking very put out that she didn’t get to sit with Damian Wayne, though she was happy to finish her meal, even if it was somewhere else. Damian could relate; he really had meant it when he told Carter the food was good. Ace managed to get everyone else out of the area before seating Damian. She shrugged. “He’s been pulling double shifts. Another waiter snapped his ankle. Be. _Nice_ ” Her hard glare was enough to get him to nod a few times. 

When he’d been a very small boy, and his mother Talia had still been with him, and they’d lived in a villa in Saudi Arabia, she would sometimes sit across from him in his room, and tell him stories. When he looked at Ace, he remembered those stories. The stories of the Ifrits especially. The demonic djinn made of smoke and bad dreams, who sat on your shoulder and either blessed or cursed you depending on the choices you made. Ace looked like how he imagined an Ifrit would look. So of course, if she was his ifrit, at least in this case, the little boy that still lurked inside of Damian (despite his best attempts to murder him) listened to her and dictated what his older self did. 

And he had half a mind to anyway. Carter looked like a right mess. It was incredible he was still awake with the bags under his eyes. His hair wasn’t in as proper a pony as it usually had been, and despite being almost as good as usual about navigating through the café, he was slightly slower, a little less balanced. Exactly what was he doing, and how much of it, to warrant the almost-exhaustion? Damian frowned. Was this from the break-up? Did Carter compensate with having no girlfriend by overworking? Damian knew his brother Dick did that, whenever he and Barbara got into an argument, and the results in the long run were never pretty. Watching Carter do it just made Damian frown in annoyance. If he was too tired, he couldn’t work. If he couldn’t work it inconvenienced everyone around him. If it inconvenienced everyone, he’d find himself in a very difficult place. Possibly without a job. And then where would Damian be, if his favorite thing to annoy wasn’t within easy access?

Carter made his way to Damian, after a few people had tried-and failed- to sit with him. Carter eyed him. “I should thank you for the extra business. The extra money is awesome” but his face was tight and drawn, probably an equal mix of annoyance, anger and exhaustion. Annoyance and anger that the café had to depend on Damian for the extra business, and exhaustion because Damian doubted Carter was letting himself rest for longer than it took to eat something quick. “Maybe it’s nice, but _sleeping_ is good, too. Unless you’re afraid of Ifrits popping out of your ears” Maybe he was tired too. At least Carter just looked confused. “What the he-um…what in the world are you talking about?” Damian raised an eyebrow. Watching his language? Was he behaving himself as an extra protection against being tired, or was it because of the extra people in the Random Bean? 

“Ifrits are djinn who are created from the nightmares of tortured souls” He shrugged. Carter’s face closed off and his eyes became slits. “Who says I’m tortured?” Damian smirked. “Body language. And maybe I’ll stop calling you a tortured soul if you get off your feet for a little bit” His smirk became a grin. “Or do you want me to catch you if you fall, you know, to repay you?” Carter clenched his teeth so tightly together between those closed lips Damian could see the muscles jump in his jaw. “I have to get your order, and serve you. And then…then I’ll sit down” Damian nodded. At least the little idiot saw sense. 

He ordered the blancmange (“Why do you have so many French items on the menu?” “The boss is from New Orleans. And she’s partial to sweets. What, do you have a problem with this?”) and black tea and then sat back and watched Ace and Carter work with the crowd in the little café. Some people were waiting by the door to be seated. Some were purposefully trying to cause trouble, and people were hitting on both of Carter and Ace despite a large indifference by the objects of their come-ons. This was partly his fault. It had been busy before, yes, but not to this degree. And the two hadn’t had this much trouble before. 

He caught the eye of their boss and waved her over. “Seems like you’ve got a bit of a busy situation” He murmured, smiling slightly up at her. She flushed and smiled. “Oh, yes! But it’s good. It’s almost busy enough to make an excuse for buying the empty space next to us in the building. We could expand!” Damian chuckled. “If you did, would you be needing more waiters?” Abby paused and then nodded slowly. “Ye-es…maybe two or four more” Damian’s smile widened. “My future sister-in-law Barbara Gordon is a Big Sister to a girl named Nissa. I think she was looking for a job; perhaps I’ll call Barbara and see. Abby looked at him gratefully. He liked it when people looked at him gratefully; it meant they owed him something. 

~*~

Carter brought him his blancmange after a little while, and it appeared that the café was clearing out a little. At the very least the gothic waiter looked a little more at ease. It was the first time Damian noticed the fingernails. He really must be tired, not noticing the minute details like that. Black chipped polish coated each nail, and messy splotches covered Carter’s fingertips. Damian raised his eyebrows. “Do it yourself?” Carter flushed, which was a first. “A friend wants to go into cosmetology. I let her practice on me” It was short and to the point and was designed to negate further conversation. Damian snickered and Carter “accidentally” spilt some water, meant for another order, onto Damian. “Oops. Guess my hand slipped” he sneered before turning on his heel and finishing getting the different orders out to the other customers. When he was done, he vanished into the back, presumably to sit down.

Ace hit Damian on her way to clear a table. “I said be nice” She told him flatly and he raised his hands. “I got him to take a break! And I didn’t say things I could have about the nail polish” Ace sighed. “Be nicer” She walked away and Damian finished his dessert, unable to get a sour taste out of his mouth that had nothing to do with food. 

Something needed to be done about Carter’s overworking problem, or Damian himself was going to have some problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to say right now that Nissa is from the Batman Beyond comics. She's the new Batgirl and Barbara is her mentor similar to how Bruce is Terry's. Terry hasn't met her, and Bruce (of course) doesn't like her. She hasn't shown up much but she's awesome and I couldn't resist bringing her in, at least a little.


	5. I worry for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian and Carter argue, fight, and make-up. well, sort of.

Life was going a little easier for Carter. There were a few new people working at the café, including a rather pretty young woman named Nissa. They were both interested in electronics and machinery, and she’d even created working models of Reno’s electro-mag rod, which was extremely cool. Too bad they’d been deemed illegal. Still, she could make a profit off of them if she really wanted. She also wasn’t a half bad waitress, and didn’t take the rowdier customers’ crap. A good fighter, a smart street-punk, a very bright girl, he really liked her. She was also as annoyed by Damian Wayne as he was. 

“You know, not even the people in his own family really like him” She’d confided at one point while they were in the back. He’d raised his eyebrows, though he couldn’t say he was that surprised. Terry always complained about him and Ghoul was terrified of him. Nissa nodded. Barb tries not to talk about her family life too much, but she refers to him as a stuck up brat” well, that didn’t really say anything. Miss Gordon called Weasel, the one with _panic attacks_ , a homicidal maniac. She also compared Saiko to something from Silent Hill. Then again, she was talking about Jokerz. 

Nissa had caught sight of a look from Ace, had paled, and continued on her work. It was kind of funny watching the quiet and (mostly) harmless Ace intimidate so many people. Although he’d been a little unnerved by her for the rest of the day because of the fact that she didn’t seem too happy with him. She’d probably heard him talking with Nissa, or had gotten tired of his biting comments about how Damian acted. He knew he was being a hypocrite, considering that he’d almost killed someone over being valedictorian in high school, and then tried to kill Ghoul and later the dog Baskervilles when he’d had to visit the girl he’d tried to kill. There had also been other things, which Ace was very much aware of. 

When Damian left the café that day, Ace had touched Carter’s arm. “Nobody is what they seem” she told him quietly. He _knew_ that, knew from personal experience of leading a double life his high school career. He knew there was more to Damian than what people said, the guy seemed to genuinely care about animals (which was a huge shocker but surprisingly kind of weirdly adorable) and wasn’t above giving advice or “friendly” threats if it meant trying to help, if that was what he was doing when he’d tried to get Carter to sit down. _Yes_ , Carter knew there was more to people, more to Damian Wayne, but it was hard to completely trust someone who was so damn flippant and condescending so much of the time. 

~*~

After the café closed for the night, Carter went home. Not for long, really, just to change into night clothes, and then he was out for a night stalking the streets, maybe he’d see a late night matinee show. Maybe he’d stop for some coffee. But for the most part he was just walking around near his flat, which was in the seedier area of the entertainment area of Gotham. When he looked out his window, he saw an abandoned theater, the movie titles still being broadcast. The Mark of Zorro was one of the shows, and Carter often looked at it outside his window, wondering what it would have been like, seeing the movie in theaters instead on the movie channels on T.V.

But there were plenty of other movie theaters that were still operating and playing recent movies, though a few played classics after a certain time at night. Carter used to love walking the area, because Deidre loved the area. She loved show tunes and classic movies and retro things, and Carter had loved watching her light up and tell him all about the movie titles, or the snatches of songs they heard when doors opened. Now, it soothed an ache because he didn’t feel so alone when he wasn’t in the flat that they’d shared. 

Sometimes, it was frustrating and painful to realize his life still revolved around her. 

Maybe cursing loudly when he saw Damian wasn’t a good idea because the bastard’s head whipped around to where Carter was, like a predator’s. The (green in this half-light. Green like a wild cat’s) eyes narrowed and he walked over to the other quickly, so quickly. His voice frozen in his throat, Carter felt like a deer in the headlights. He didn’t scare easily. Joker scared him, that was pretty much it on people he feared, but at this moment he felt terrified. “Why is it the one time I decide to _avoid_ you, I run right into you?” Damian’s voice was smooth, amused and annoyed, it didn’t do much to help Carter’s terror, but it did give him back the ability to speak. 

“Sounds like I show up like a bad penny” He muttered, focusing on breathing. When he caught a whiff of something woody and dark, he realized that Damian was close enough for Carter to smell his cologne. Warning bells went off in his head, but he still couldn’t move. Damian tilted his head and put his hands in his pants-pockets. “Almost seems like you’re used to being a bad penny to people” _Now_ Carter could move, the sting of the matter-of-fact words shocking his body back into mobility. He moved back to a safe distance away from Damian, hands in his coat pockets, hair falling a little in front of his face. He gave a slightly shocked chuckle, looking down. “Yea, yea you could say that. So, since I’m a bad penny, I bring bad luck. So _back off_ ” He turned away from Damian and began walking-not towards his flat, there was no way in hell he’d lead the Wayne back _there_ , but towards one of the little parks one of Selina Wayne’s charities had spawned all over town. Something about making friendly environments for kids to play in, or something. But, it was a nice long way from his flat so it’d do as a destination.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re _afraid_ -” Carter took a deep breath, hands clenched so tightly into fists he knew his fingernails were making cuts. But he’d had enough. Carter whipped around as Damian came towards him, smirking. Without thinking, Carter wound up and punched Damian in the face as hard as he could. The sting of his knuckles against a soft cheek and hard teeth felt so good. While Damian was still reeling Carter kicked him in the stomach. Damian was knocked back into a trashcan and held onto it for support as he touched his cheek. The smirk froze on Carter’s face as furious (green, glowing grass-green) eyes locked on him. He wheeled around and took off down the alley. He knew from the sound of toppling cans that Damian had given chase. 

The park was his best bet, given how Damian had been blocking the only good way back to the main street. The park usually had people in it, even at night. Bums, runaways, horny couples who either couldn’t afford or didn’t want a hotel room. Yes, the park was his best bet to get at least a _little_ protection from Damian. Carter dodged trash cans, broken toys, and empty laundry baskets. He leaped down stairs and nearly slammed into a corner of a building from skidding in a puddle of…he didn’t want to know. All the time he could hear Damian behind him, a constant reminder of impending doom. 

When Carter saw the park, he gave a small sob. It was empty. A little lot with a giant tree, swings, a drinking fountain and a slide (the tree had been growing in the condemned building that the park had replaced). The park was small enough to tell if people were in it. It was empty and he couldn’t circle back or run through it…but he doubted Damian wanted to climb a tree in the dark. He could wait him out in the tree, or until sunrise, whichever came first, and then figure out what to do. Carter beelined for the tree and he heard a growl behind him and faster footfalls. Carter clenched his teeth and sped up as well.

His left hand was brushing the trunk of the tree when his right arm was grabbed and he was yanked into Damian with a frustrated scream. Their feet tangled and they fell into the tree, the back of Carter’s head colliding with the trunk. He grunted as things swum out of focus and the world went pitch black.

~*~

The first thing Carter smelled was wood and earth, and a darker smell. The first thing Carter felt was a hand cradling his head, and rough tree bark on his back. The first thing he saw were two large green-blue eyes that took up his entire line of vision. _They actually are pretty eyes_ he thought dizzily, not quite remembering who the eyes and hand belonged to. The eyes were arresting and the hand was comforting. They stayed like this for a few minutes, Carter blinking stupidly into the gaze of the eyes. When he realized who it was, however, he instinctively flinched backwards. Damian’s other hand whipped up and around to prevent Carter from hitting his head on the tree again. _With his hands like this and his face so close, he could kiss me_ another dizzy, irrational thought that he shoved out of his mind quickly. It was the knock to the skull that was causing the thoughts.

“You stupid, silly fool” Carter refrained from commenting that Damian had essentially called him the same thing three times and just frowned at the older man. “I wouldn’t have gotten hurt if you hadn’t chased me”

“I wouldn’t have chased you if you hadn’t attacked me!”

“Well, I wouldn’t have attacked you if you hadn’t insulted me!”

“I wouldn’t have insulted you if you hadn’t insulted yourself”

“I-wait, what?”

 _That_ had taken a turn for the unexpected. Damian sighed, the hand cradling Carter’s head moving to poke at his cheek. “People are worried about you, you know. You look terrible. _Somebody_ needed to tell you” His lip curled into a self-depreciating sneer “And who better than the devil himself?” Carter snorted softly. Now who was insulting themselves? And really? “Is that why you came in the first time? If Terry or Ghoul talked about my life to _you_ they’re dead” Damian laughed and Carter could feel the vibrations of it through Damian’s hands. He shivered. “I went in because the Random Bean is apparently the only place in the world that makes eggs that Terry will _eat_. And then, I saw you, and just listened in on their conversations. Especially after when I told you to sit down. You are a mess, and I’ve seen some nasty messes” Carter scowled. He wasn’t that bad, was he? If Damian was referencing the more insane women he’d dated (Carter only knew about them through the news) there was no way that Carter was that bad…right?

He shifted, not really comfortable sitting on the ground hemmed in by the taller and more intimidating male. Damian didn’t move, but he dropped his hands. It helped a little, though the hand on the back of his head had felt good. Carter brought his knees up to his chin and hugged his legs, regarding Damian over his knees. “Alright, point taken. I’m not being healthy and people have noticed. Who cares?” If they had thought it was bad enough for an intervention, his friends would have talked to him themselves. Of course, Damian had admitted to acting on his own…and that was actually rather _nice_ of him. Damian’s eyes narrowed and he leaned in very close to Carter. “ _I_ care, actually. I rather look forward to eating at the Random Bean and part of that is because I get to have verbal spars. With you. Nobody outside of my family _dares_ tell me no. except you” Carter blinked. “You are such a spoiled brat” The closeness was making his heart beat fast. And what Damian had told him. Which was weird. He hadn’t had that reaction since…since….

Deidre.

Carter turned his head and closed his eyes tightly. “I’ll take care of myself. Just go away!” he was _not_ going to cry in front of Damian, he wasn’t! An annoyed huff came from Damian and gentle but demanding fingers guided Carter’s face back to face Damian’s. Aloof blue-green eyes regarded him. There was something else there that Carter wasn’t sure about. Damian’s other hand pushed Carter’s knees down before leaning in and

Kissing him. Damian was kissing him.

Carter’s heart fluttered. Logically he should push Damian away, logically he shouldn’t feel like he did when he’d first met Deidre, logically he shouldn’t be kissing back or liking it. Logically he’d have to conclude that neither he nor his kissing partner were 100% straight as previously thought. And it was really good to let go. Carter’s arms wrapped around Damian’s shoulders as Damian’s arms wrapped around his waist. It was a hungry kiss, biting lips and clacking teeth and it felt surprisingly good. When they broke off, the parting was mutual. Damian was regarding Carter with hungry interest as Carter just stared into his eyes with a quiet challenge, and some uncertainty. Finally Carter’s hands moved to Damian’s chest and pushed him away hard enough to send him sprawling. 

Carter stood up, hand on his head as he moved, careful since he wasn’t sure if movement would make him feel sick again. He looked down at Damian and straightened his jacket, running a hand through his hair. “I’ll try to do better in sleep and what-not” He said quietly, sighing. “But I’m serious, _back off_. I’d like to be left alone for the most part, okay?” Damian’s face clouded like a thunder storm and Carter held up a hand. “ _But_ , I don’t mind if you talk to me after work sometimes, okay? I can tell you when” Damian raised an eyebrow and Carter chuckled. “You have a better idea?” The long silence indicated that Damian currently didn’t. 

Carter walked around Damian and began heading back to the park entrance. “I’m going home, and if you follow me I _will_ request a restraining order” Now he knew how Harley felt with Jack. Sort of. At least Damian didn’t have a split personality. 

Carter paused and rubbed a hand over his neck. “And…well, call me Terminal, okay? I prefer it” Damian snickered. “Terminal?” Carter shrugged, not facing the other. “Life is a terminal disease. So yes, Terminal. Good night Damian” his first name was weird on Carter’s lips, it was the first time he’d actually called Damian by his first name to his face. 

Carter shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and began walking towards his flat. He had a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it has been scientifically proven that if you stare into a stranger's eyes, or someone you dislike, in silence for several minutes, you develop slight romantic feelings, and a kinder disposition towards someone. which is where the "love at first sight" comes from, as each couple would have stared at each other (and indirectly, their eyes) for several minutes. unfortunately for Damian and Carter, they are both human and this rule applies to them ;)


	6. I'm Flying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the night in the park Carter is predictably rather confused, and a little conflicted. There's too much at stake to put on the line for Damian's proposal. There's too much potential at stake not to.

Freaking out was a little bit of an understatement. It was one thing to change an opinion of someone (admittedly only slightly though) and quite another to change your perception of yourself. Carter had done a _lot_ of research about…well, different sexualities. He’d come to the conclusion that he _might_ be bisexual or pansexual. It was difficult to decide when he’d never particularly paid attention before. He’d always assumed, because he was attracted to females, he was straight.

But one Damian Wayne was throwing a wrench in that assumption. His hands could be surprisingly gentle. His kiss was addicting, his laugh magnetic. However, the attraction didn’t mean Carter trusted Damian any more than he already did (which was not at all) and it didn’t mean he treated him any differently at the Random Bean. He was a little more skittish, that was all. 

Of course, Carter could talk to either Terry or Ghoul; they were a potential support system he only had to call to get their help. But he couldn’t bring himself to pick up the phone. He knew that it was stupid to still be ruled by the thought of his mother, but there it was. One movement towards his phone, to call Ghoul for advice on how to deal with Damian, and a sly voice would whisper through his mind **’What would your mother say?’** and he’d move away from the phone and do something else. Or, if he thought about talking to Terry, to ask how he figured out he liked men, his mother would pop into his head, as clear as if she were in the room. Her usual pinched and disapproving face glaring daggers. _”I didn’t raise my son to be a queer”_ and shame made him turn away from the thought of asking for help.

He had to deal with this on his own. 

“Do you have anything vegetarian on the menu?” He nodded politely at the young man with forest green hair. “We have several salads and a new burger that uses a mushroom as the patty” The boy grinned and ordered the burger. With Abby working on a new expansion to the café, she’d added several new items to the menu, which was good, but odd. The expansion was just another result of Damian frequenting the café. The man was causing waves and ripples all over the quiet(ish) pond that was Carter’s life. Some of them were okay, some were not.

“Terminal” the way Damian said it never failed to make him shiver slightly. Did he _practice_ saying it? That was kind of creepy, him whispering Carter’s name as many times as it took to get it to roll off his tongue like that. Carter’s hands began to shake a little and he placed Damian’s quiche down more quickly than normal. The blue-green eyes had had a hungry look in them since the night in the park. Carter rubbed his forehead and sighed as Damian chuckled. “Look, _sir_ , either you come here for food or you don’t come at all” Carter wished Damian would stop playing with him. It was weird and put him on edge. It wasn’t a normal play anymore, after the park it had become borderline flirtatious. And that was dangerous. Damian’s eyebrows went up as he looked at Carter innocently. “But I do. Or I wouldn’t order anything” a dangerous chuckle and Carter gritted his teeth. “It’s been a week. One. Week. You’d think you’d have…you know what? Nevermind” Damian smirked. “I want to talk. I should be out of the office at 5 today, so does that little park sound alright?” Carter frowned, thinking. “…Fine. Whatever. It’s not like I really have a choice with you, do I?” Damian practically beamed at him and it unnerved Carter more than the flirtatious playing.

Nissa looked at him sympathetically when he got to the back. “I’d punch him if it wasn’t for Barb threatening me with what’ll happen if I lose another job” Carter smiled gratefully at her and shrugged. “He’s an asshole, but sometimes he’s not that bad, actually. Just an average blueblood” It was weird to stand up for Damian. Nissa snorted and shrugged. “Whatever. I guess if Dick isn’t so bad, and Barb is willing to marry into the family, then there might be more to our friendly neighborhood devil bat. I just don’t like his vibe, you know?” Carter nodded. “Yes, believe me, I know. But somehow I get the feeling there’s more to him”

Behind them, Ace smiled slightly.

~*~

Carter was swinging on the swings. He hadn’t done it since he was a kid (“Look mom, I’m flying!” “No, you’re swinging. Stop babbling such stupid nonsense. Dreamers don’t prosper, Carter. Remember that”) and it actually felt kind of good. He was going so high it was making the swingset rock back and forth and the chains on his swing creak worryingly. He didn’t care. Swinging was working pretty well to empty his mind of the things that worried him. He was really going to have to do it more often. He didn’t know when he’d gotten there, or when he’d started swinging, but when Damian showed up there was a pleasant burn in his calves and thighs. Once he neared the height of his swing, Carter pushed himself out of the rubber seat. His body went up, up, curved and splayed out. His eyes closed as time went molasses slow while he completed the height of his arc into the air. It sped up double-time when gravity decided to claim him again. He opened his eyes, corrected his angle so he wouldn’t fall over when he landed, and hit the ground hard on his knees. 

Some teenager by the tree clapped hard, and Carter laughed, short hard and breathless sounds. How long had he been swinging? “While I condone the action as childish, watching you almost made me want to try. Almost” Carter stopped grinning and rolled his eyes, standing up and brushing off dirt and grass on his knees. “You are such an ass. I had to pass the time _some_ how while waiting for you. There’s not a whole lot to do at this park” Damian folded his arms. “Well, it’s the only place I could think of, seeing as it’s really the only place I’ve seen you at outside of the Random Bean” He smirked. “Unless you wanted to meet at that one gas station?” Carter gave him a warning look. “Just because I reciprocated your kiss _doesn’t_ mean I trust you more than I did” he wasn’t sure what it meant, besides the fact that he was attracted to Damian. 

The blue-green eyes bored into him, unreadable and shadowed. “Considering I have no intentions of simply leaving this alone, for some inexplicable reason this interests me far too much, and I suppose since you brought up trust specifically that means you must value it, I’m going to have to work on that, aren’t I?” He didn’t look too pleased with this prospect but Carter wasn’t budging. “Yea, you are” Damian’s face took on a sly look. “And the prize for earning your trust, and I’d assume, your affections?” Carter took his key-ring out of his back pocket. On it were his motorcycle key, post office box key, and two flat keys. He picked out one with a dark red ‘D’ markered onto it and held it up so Damian could see. “A key to my flat” He smirked at the expression on Damian’s face and raised an eyebrow. “What, did this just hit home, what exactly you’re asking me?” it certainly had for Carter, his insides were churning with several emotions, all brought about by the thing he’d just promised to Damian. If he closed his eyes, he’d see his mother’s angry and betrayed gaze. So he didn’t. He kept them open and on Damian. 

Damian snorted, his face smoothing into a studied blank expression. “You don’t give me enough credit. Fine, challenge accepted, Terminal” and then they stood in silence for a few minutes, just staring at each other before Carter growled and began walking to Damian. Inside his head his mother was ranting. Memories of years of being afraid to talk about his friends because of her accusations of being homosexual bubbled to the surface and swirled through his mind. They culminated as he came up to Damian, chest brushing chest. Damian’s hand tangled into Carter’s long hair, gently pulling it back and up. _“If you do this you are no son of mine!”_ his mother screamed in his head. Carter closed his eyes and leaned up to meet Damian.

**Shut up, mom**

For years, he’d swung back and forth from danger and safety. A swingset placed at the edge of a precipice, he swung over the chasm, over the ground, chasm, ground, chasm, ground, chasm. Danger, safety, danger, safety, danger….when Damian’s lips met his, Carter let go of the safety of the chains and launched himself outward into the chasm.

Only time would tell if he’d land upright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaand this is the last I'll update for a while, sorry! now it's time to go back to Ghoul and Terry's story in part 1 ^^ and if I get ahead of myself again (which will most likely happen at some point) I'll put a few more chapters of Terminal and Damian up. but just be aware that I don't foresee this going past 30 some chapters ;)


	7. Test Run

It was aggravating, seeing Terminal _right there_ and not being able to grab him and do what he wanted to the younger man. In Damian’s vast experience, sex generally happened right after the ‘okay let’s date’ stage. Although in this case he really couldn’t fault Terminal for keeping his distance. The first kiss had been an impulse. Damian was fairly sure neither of them had considered the possibility of of being attracted to the same gender. Because Terminal didn’t _act_ like he’d ever considered this. And while Damian was feeling more or less how Terminal was acting, he had (un)fortunately inherited his mother’s tenacity in pursuing people that interested him and now couldn’t stand leaving Terminal alone, come hell or high water. 

 

Which was why he was currently waiting until closing time to corner his uncertain fling. After he ate(and caused Terminal to almost drop his Oolong tea when he “casually” brushed Terminal’s wrist with his fingers and gave him a look of someone mentally undressing the goth. The reaction had been interesting, and amusing) He went out the front and went casually into a bookstore across the street and down a little ways. It still had a good view of the Random Bean, which was all Damian wanted. 

 

It was a few hours before the Cafe began closing down for the night and Damian had settled down with a small stack of books to justify his being in the bookstore. He sat by the window and looked out at the Cafe from time to time, waiting with the calm patience of a hunter. Once, when he was very small, his grandfather had brought a gazelle to his private grounds. Damian had thought the thing was the most graceful and beautiful thing he’d ever seen. And then Ra’s Al Ghul’s pet tiger had killed it. The gazelle was ripped apart in front of Damian, who’d been forced to watch the carnage till the last leg stopped twitching. “My grandson” Ra’s had stated to the shaken little Damian, “My grandson. Be always the hunter, and never the prey” 

Damian could sense both he and Terminal were hunters. It was just that Terminal was a little more like the gazelle than the tiger. 

 

Terminal closed that night. Damian couldn’t tell if he was laughing and joking with his boss as she left, but he thought that maybe yes, he did. The younger man shared an almost mother and son relationship with Abby, from what he’d seen everyday. She cared about him and Terminal didn’t seem to like making her worry. Damian had been considering ways to use that to his advantage. When Abby began walking away, Damian put away his books and slipped out of the bookstore to catch his gazelle. 

For all his leisurely walking and unthreatening pose, you’d think he’d pulled a gun on Terminal the way he reacted when he saw Damian. Damian calmly pushed Terminal into the little alley that made up the back of the cafe. Terminal backed into the far wall of the alley and stared Damian down. Damian folded his arms but didn’t go any further. The way the younger man was standing against the wall gave Damian a sure sign that he would probably get punched again if he tried to go any further. The last thing he wanted was Jason pointing out the bruise again. His least favorite brother, they had never really gotten along. It was probably because Jason viewed Damian as a mistake and Damian saw Jason as a bitter joke. Dislike on principle although there was no outright hate. Respect was about all they could muster for the other. Which was why Jason bringing up the bruise on his face had annoyed him so greatly.

Damian smiled at Terminal and continued staring him down. “Now, I wonder why you’ve been avoiding me?” Terminal scowled at that. “Maybe it’s because one, I’m trying to process my situation and two, you seem to do pretty good at getting me alone and cornered despite my best efforts so if you had _really_ wanted to snag me before now it would have happened” his mouth curled into a smirk. “Unless you were being shy...?” Damian snorted and rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t the one who reacted like a scared rabbit just now, was I?” 

 

Terminal sighed and rubbed his forehead. He stopped and put a warning hand out when Damian took advantage of his distraction to move a little closer. “I can’t process this. I know what you _want_ , at least right at this moment. That’s clear” Damian gave him a questioning look as Terminal continued trying to search for his thoughts. He seemed more than a little flustered and it just interested Damian more. “I don’t know the boundaries or rules of this relationship. This really bothers-oh” His breath stuttered and he stopped talking as Damian, who had gotten bored and decided to take advantage of Terminal’s distraction, walked up to Terminal and boldly slipped a hand under his shirt, grazing his pants line. The other hand went around one cheek.

 

“Let’s figure out relationship rules after deciding if it’s even worthwhile” he drawled, and Terminal’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. This caused Damian to smirk and slip a finger into the pants and under the band of the underwear. The reaction was explosive and the next thing Damian knew he was being pressed against the alley wall with one arm pinned behind his back. “Let’s get one thing settled right now” he hissed and by hell if it wasn’t hot. “I will _not_ be treated like some back-alley whore!” Damian resisted the urge to snort. He knew the kid wasn’t. He wouldn’t be spending this much effort to get with a whore. In fact, he wouldn’t be trying in the first place. It was just a standard he preferred keeping to. “Well, it wasn’t like I was actually intending to do the deed here” he was pushed harder against the wall and he grunted in annoyance. He was about ready to flip them if Terminal kept this up. 

“It didn’t seem like that, Damian” this time Damian laughed. Terminal was starting to sound a little bit unsure despite himself. “Well maybe if you hadn’t reacted so violently you could have given me the chance to suggest _going somewhere_ ” after a long moment Terminal released Damian’s arms and Damian turned around, stretching the muscles. Terminal was a few feet away, watching him mistrustfully. But, he was still there. That was the important thing. Damian adjusted his jacket and ran a cursory hand through his hair before looking at Terminal expectantly. The boy folded his arms and rolled his eyes. “I’m ready when you are. But _you_ suggested first, so _you_ get to choose the place” Damian smirked. He could do that.

He had enough respect for Terminal to not demand his apartment, and it wasn’t like he really cared at the moment. He had a place for this sort of occasion. “We need to take the subway” Terminal chewed on his lip for a moment before nodding. “Let me finish closing, then I’ll follow” Damian rolled his eyes. “Attempt to slip out the front and I will hunt you down” he told him, and Terminal nodded slowly. “I bet. Five minutes, ten at the most” He slipped into the building and Damian sighed but waited. At nine minutes Terminal was out again and locking the back door. Today his shirt was a vintage-style Blue Devil t-shirt over a grey long-sleeved shirt. His hair was bunched into a loose pony held by a yellow scrunchie. 

“You look like a hipster” Damian drawled, after giving the boy a good once-over. Though he was giving him grief, Damian had to admit that he didn’t look bad. Terminal sighed at the comment and touched the scrunchie. “I don’t think hipsters wear these, or wash their hair. And there is nothing wrong with liking superheroes-or anti-heroes-like Blue Devil” He smiled and patted his shirt. Obviously he was a fanboy. Personally, Damian preferred the Grey Ghost as a comic hero. Blue Devil was just too distasteful for him. Not quite so campy, and the design was idiotic. But whatever. He wasn’t interested in Terminal for his comic book preferences. 

Damian shrugged and began walking towards the nearest subway, not bothering to see if Terminal was following or not. He knew he was and that was all there really was to it. While the apartment Damian rented for his less classy flings was in one of the worse neighborhoods, he had a fairly good method of blending in. The neighborhood was, luckily for him and not so much for them, filled with mostly immigrants. And Damian looked just enough like his mother to pass for a blue-collar immigrant if he messed his hair and rumpled his suit, among a few other minor changes. Like the way he walked and stood. 

They got in the subway car at different ends at each stop and through the jostling of tired workers and students and single mothers and vagrants, Damian looked less and less like the heir of Bruce Wayne that he was, and more and more like a tired, worn down ethnic man coming home from a long day at an unfulfilling job.

By the time they got to the neighborhood, Damian had to nudge Terminal and get his attention to alert the younger man who he was. Terminal’s widened slightly and he flicked the tip of his tongue over his lips. “Okay, _pops_. Lead the way” Damian smirked and cocked his head as he got off the train and led the way, Terminal falling a few feet behind him. The boy would be paying for that one later. 

Damian (of course) got to the apartment a minute or so before Terminal knocked on the door. Damian opened it to find a rather amused looking Terminal leaning against the doorframe with a swelling cheek and nursing bloodied knuckles. Damian raised his eyebrows. “I leave you alone for _two minutes_ ” he deadpanned before yanking the boy into his apartment. Terminal fell into his arms and against his chest before Damian slammed the door shut and slammed Terminal against it. 

Damian attacked the unintentially bared neck that happened as Terminal hit his head on the door. In between quick nips and semi-hard bites came “are you really _so_ combative you can’t walk down a street without getting into a fight?” Terminal’s soft gasps and hisses from the attack on his neck did nothing to quench the lust that had been building since their first meeting, and the need that had been building since Terminal had agreed to some sort of relationship. Insistent hands on his chest however prompted him to stop for a moment. Mainly because if he didn’t he had the sudden thought that Terminal would shove him with the same strength he displayed in the alley. 

“Sorry for fighting off some punk who thought he could steal from me” Terminal sighed and leaned his head against the door, fingers clenching into Damian’s shirt. “Unlike you, I’m no chameleon. I can’t blend into a crowd like you so obviously can. They thought I was an easy target and now they’re bleeding on the street. Case closed. Whatever” 

Damian sighed and rolled his eyes. Before pulling Terminal by the wrist further into the grungy little apartment. He reserved it for flings and getting out of the public’s eyes only. It had only the bare necessities and luckily, this included a medical kit. He grabbed it from under the sink and then pulled Terminal into the ‘living room’ and the only thing that was in it; a ratty old overstuffed armchair with only three good legs. 

Damian sat down and made Terminal sit on his lap. It was more for his sick amusement and indicating exactly what role Terminal would be playing that night. The boy was stiff as a board on Damian’s lap though otherwise quite docile. It was interesting that the boy made no sound as Damian cleaned his knuckles and scratch wounds on one palm, something he had apparently accidentally done to himself in the fight. “I find it kind of surprising you’re being decent” Terminal commented as Damian was wrapping his hands with bandages and Damian looked at him before looking back at his work. Ridiculous in that Damian had been relatively ‘decent’ to Terminal up till now but... “Those magazines enjoy exaggerating. Terry is the good little angel and I’m the hell-bound devil. I treat all of my partners badly and blah blah blah. They do like trying to pit the biological children against each other” 

A bandaged hand touched his cheek for just a moment as he finished working on the other hand. However it was gone before he really had a chance to process what was happening. Then Terminal was off his lap. With his back to Damian he slowly pulled his shirt over his head in a fluid movement. Damian leaned over as he did so and popped the pants button from behind. He trailed fingers around the pantsline and rested hands on hips before suddenly pulling pants and underwear down. Terminal gasped and his shirt dropped from nerveless fingers to the floor. Damian grinned and licked from the lower back to the shoulder blades. One of which he bit. Terminal dropped back into his lap, suddenly boneless and Damian quickly grabbed the base of Terminal’s erection to prevent immediate orgasm. While some of this he was just doing on both instinct and assumption, _that_ at least he knew. 

“Really, biting your shoulder-blades?” Damian clicked his tongue and carefully removed his hand to get at the shoes and socks so he could slip the pants and underwear off fully. Although they did make good shackles, they would just get in the way. Terminal was no help being a boneless, panting, hot mess. After a few minutes the sneakers and socks were off and he rendered Terminal completely naked.

Terminal, now moderately recovered, turned around and undid Damian’s tie, before he focused on unbuttoning the shirt. Damian explored the new terrain of exposed as his shirt came undone. Terminal had smooth skin for the most part with a few scars. Terminal’s wrists had more old scars than his chest, and Damian suddenly understood why he usually wore long sleeves off-work and sweat-bands during work. Damian liked teasing Terminal by trying to grab his wrists while the boy was working and getting slapped away. 

After a few times though, and when Terminal had gotten the buttons undone and was working on pulling the shirt and undershirt out of Damian’s pants, Damian switched to groping the boy settled precariously on his lap. Groping his body and biting/sucking his abused neck and unmarked chest. Bending one of Terminal’s nipples with his tongue caused an interesting reaction that, while not as explosive as when Damian bit his shoulder, it did cause him to arch his back and actually make noise other than his shaky panting. And that low moan was worth all of Damian’s efforts. And reminded him of the growing friction in his pants that really needed to be taken care of.

Damian shoved Terminal to get off his lap and stood up, stripping off his own pants and underwear and removing his shoes and socks in the process. The undershirt and shirt were left on for the moment because getting undressed just took [i]too long[/i] and he was more interested in truly claiming Terminal than taking his time anymore than he absolutely had to. 

He grabbed Terminal by one arm and pulled him so they collided together and their chests were touching. It didn’t take long for them to start grinding into each other’s bodies. Damian wrapped his arms around Carter to keep him so close and forced them towards the nearest wall. Terminal actually started struggling and they tripped over each other and slammed into the floor. Damian sat up and grabbed Terminal’s jaw, bringing him up as well and forcing him to look at Damian. He glared at the older man through a mess of black hair that had fallen out of his pony. “What was that?” Damian asked with a dangerous quietness and Terminal wrenched his jaw out of Damian’s grip and looked away. “Shoving and pulling me around is getting old fast. Tell me what we’re doing so I get some idea” Damian snorted. “Open your mouth then. Enough playing around” 

Terminal’s head whipped around, mouth slack and slightly open probably in an oncoming protest but Damian slipped two fingers into Terminal’s mouth before any sound actually came out. Damian grunted at the feeling of the warm, wet cavern and his cock twitched in need. Luckily Terminal caught the gist and licked and sucked on the fingers, Damian’s hand and wrist held steady by bandaged hands. While he was preparing the fingers, Damian gave attention to himself, groaning at the feeling of the mouth on his fingers and the hand on his cock. He slipped his fingers out of Terminals mouth and motioned for him to turn around, promptly knocking the younger man onto his stomach so he could slip the wet fingers into his ass. Terminal yelped at the feeling of the fingers inside him, forcing him to stretch. Damian didn’t wait for him to get used to it. He grabbed his hip to prevent him from moving away from the fingers and began thrusting his fingers inside of him and angling to look for the sweet spot he knew was there. The prostate, thank you health class. 

He once more almost caused Terminal to orgasm, which made him laugh. “A little sensitive tonight, hm? exactly how long has it been since you last had sexual contact?” Terminal growled. “None of your business. Not...not used to-ah! This, anyway” Damian chuckled and removed his fingers, causing Terminal to give a loud whine, which he tried to muffle in his shoulder. Damian grabbed his pony and forced his head away and back. “Nuh-uh. No hiding the noises. I want to hear you being utterly shameless” Terminal was forced to his knees and he howled in pain, gripping the base of his hair to try and minimize the pain. His body took on the general shape of a bow and Damian held him like that for a few moments before relaxing (but not letting go of) his hold on the hair. 

Damian guided Terminal into sitting down on top of him, taking Damian up to the hilt. They both needed a few moments after that, With Terminal’s head on Damian’s shoulder and Damian unable to help panting into the younger’s ear. He was _tight_ and _hot_ and it made Damian’s brain a blank of white hot for a few moments before he was able to even comprehend the idea of moving. 

“Ready?” he asked when he could speak, and Terminal nodded mutely. Damian began moving at a punishing pace, not bothering to let Terminal get used to it. Obviously this was the right move interestingly enough and Terminal was soon matching pace, jerking off at the same time with broken, lust-filled sobs. Eventually they both climaxed. And through the night Damian caused Terminal to climax four more times before the boy quite literally passed out in his arms after the fourth time. 

Damian carefully laid him on the floor after a few minutes. He didn’t know what to do with himself with the boy in his arms and just watched him sleep on the floor as dawn crept over the apartment. Eventually Damian got up and padded over to Terminal’s discarded pants and pulled out his phone, sending a phone call to Damian’s own phone so he could get the number. He then texted Abby **woke up sick. Going to take a day off, sorry** before he went back to Terminal with the medical kit and changed his bandages. The palm had started bleeding at around round two or three but hadn’t completely soaked through the bandages so Damian hadn’t seen any reason to stop their activities just to change them. But, since Terminal was sleeping and Damian himself was feeling rather lethargic, he was nice and took the time to carefully unwrap the palm and clean the scratches (which were pretty deep now that he actually focused on them) before rebandaging the hand more securely than the first time. After a moment’s thought, he kissed the palm before moving on to work on the split knuckles. When he was done there he kissed those, too. 

He continued ignoring the Jokerz tattoo that was on Terminal’s side. Some things were better not mentioning or focusing on. He moved Terminal to the bed in the back-room before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because they are both inexperienced at gay sex, I wasn't really concerned with making the sex long or going into too much detail of the actual deed. What I wanted was for them to learn how to have sex with each other. This is quite literally a practice run. I didn't see either of them really going for affection in this instance, hence the no kissing. Next time they'll explore each other more.


	8. I'll Send a Storm to Capture Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite Damian claiming he doesn't care about his little 'fling' Colin is taking none of his shit. And Damian gets to repay the favor of being saved from falling all those weeks ago.

“Ah! Ooohhh....” Terminal arched against Damian’s body as his legs tightened around Damian’s hips, Terminal grabbing onto the branches of the tree he was being rammed against desperately as teeth dragged down his sweaty neck and fingers gripped his waist tightly. After the first time, and Terminal taking two days to get back to work and three before he could even look at Damian properly, they had started having these encounters nearly every day. 

Sometimes it would be Damian texting Terminal to meet him at the apartment, sometimes it was Terminal leaving little messages on napkins or Damian’s receipt for time and place. Sometimes they went one quick round before getting on with their day, and sometimes it was three or four rounds. But each time they had sex, they were better at it and bolder with each other. 

Terminal’s arm muscles trembled and twitched from the strain of holding himself up for so long on the tree, his head lolling to one side and mouth open wide as he struggled to have _some_ pride and not moan so much. Damian licked up his bite marks and it caused another raw moan to slip out of Terminal’s mouth. Damian groaned at the sound and lost the last bits of self control as Terminal arched into him once more from the power of his climax. Damian climaxed after a few more thrusts and then untangled Terminal’s arms from the branches before moving to a sitting position with the listless Jokerz boy in his lap. 

Damian enjoyed the moments when Terminal was too spent to be that alert, it meant he could admire the handsome form. It was obvious that Terminal took care of his body. It wasn’t so muscled as to be unhealthy and it was by no means chubby. He kept it in the perfect inbetween that was health and Damian admired that. For someone just out of teenagerhood, Terminal seemed to have a pretty good grasp on his life and habits if he could afford an apartment, a job (or two, Damian wasn’t stupid) as well as surviving a high-up position in one of the most insane gangs in Gotham. The only thing Damian didn’t admire about Terminal’s body was the purple and green stylized J on his hip. He passed fingers over the raised red scratches he’d made on it earlier that night on the mark and smiled slightly as his fingers caused a flinch that rippled up Terminal’s body till it reached his face, making it go from slack and mindblown to a little uncomfortable.

Damian wrapped his arms a little more securely around the naked body and rested his forehead on Terminal’s shoulder, breathing in the scent of sex and something that was unique to the boy in his arms. Terminal slung an arm over Damian’s shoulder and sighed. “Why is it every time I’m the one who ends up with the most clothes removed?” he asked with traces of bitter amusement and Damian grinned and kissed the shoulder his head was resting on. “Because you look so good this way” he responded and Terminal huffed and pushed Damian’s head off his shoulder. “Says the verifiable sex god” Damian caught Terminal’s chin and made the boy look at him. “You are beautiful” he told him seriously, knowing full well what would happen. 

And what he figured would happen did. Terminal’s face closed and his lips thinned. He began clumsily shoving at Damian to move away from him as he struggled to stand up and Damian internally smirked at just how easy it was to wound Terminal. Obviously he had self-image issues. But whether this came from his hurt over his girlfriend or whatever had happened to him growing up, Damian didn’t know. “This isn’t romance, Damian. It’s a fuck-buddy situation. You don’t get to call me beautiful right after sex” Damian rolled his eyes. “I doubt you would let me call you beautiful in a normal situation, or while in a romantic situation. Not something I suppose men are supposed to be called” Terminal groaned a little as he stretched, one hand on the tree trunk for support. “So don’t call me that then. Christ, Damian. Stop being confusing” Damian raised an eyebrow, stood up and pinned the younger man against the tree. “Now, define confusing” he purred, and watched with satisfaction as Terminal’s breathing picked up and his eyes widened. 

Terminal put his hands over his face and shook his head. “Don't. Just... _Don’t_ ” he muttered through his hands. “But I mean I don’t know what you want and I’m fine with just sex. I kind of...like it more than a real relationship right now, but when you....” he groaned and Damian laughed and leaned in to nuzzle the side of Terminal’s still covered face, causing him to flinch. “When I call you beautiful, or sweet, or talented you freeze up like a deer in headlights. When I go slowly you cry such pretty tears” Damian slipped one hand around the two covering Terminal’s face and forced them down and away, holding them tightly as he looked at the boy with a little concern mixed in with a hard, serious stare. “Mind telling me what got your heart so beaten out of shape you can’t even take a compliment or bear being touched gently?” 

They stared at each other for several moments before Terminal’s eyes dropped and he bit his lip. “I...I was dumped by-” suddenly a ringtone rang through the air, causing them both to jump. Terminal shoved Damian out of the way and lunged for his clothes, grabbing his phone out of his pantspocket and answered. “Prank? Prank what-no...no I’m not busy. Yea, I can get you. Hold on” he sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. “Not busy, eh?” Damian said neutrally, arms folded and leaning against the tree. He was ready to wring the neck of Prank (he remembered there had been a huge thing about the kid the year before because he was adopted by Joker) for ruining his moment. Terminal glanced at him. “Well, we were done. So no, not busy. Look, I have to go get Prank before he makes good on his threat to nail a dead cat to one of his teacher’s doors. And don’t you dare look at me like you’re surprised he would do something like that” 

Damian rolled his eyes again and watched Terminal struggle to get his clothes on in what only could be described as exhausted panic before sighing in annoyance and walking over. “Stop moving” he ordered, and grabbed the grey turtleneck out of Terminal’s hands. “Arms up” he said, and then began working the first and then second sleeve onto the arms before pulling it down and over Terminal’s head. The worn letterman jacket was next. “Lean against me” he stated as he picked up the jeans, and then grabbed Terminal and forced him to lean as he worked the feet into each pantsleg. “Where did you learn how to dress someone?” Damian shrugged slightly. Have a friend. When he was younger, he was tiny and weak and always getting beaten up and his clothes ripped up. When he was like that he couldn’t even dress himself, so I would sneak him home and dress him”

“How kind” 

Damian paused and looked up at Terminal as he let the younger pull the pants up the rest of the way and button himself. He didn’t look like he cared either way, but his words sounded a little surprised. Damian chose to ignore it and handed Terminal his shoes. “Go get your boss’s brat” he muttered, and went to locate his own coat and shoes. It shouldn’t affect him, this wasn’t supposed to bother him even a little.

But god damn that brat had bad timing. He’d been so close to hearing some of Terminal’s life, and that little brat had ruined it! Why was Prank even threatening to nail a cat to his teacher’s door anyway? It was two thirty in the morning!

~*~

“You like somebody” Damian glared at his old friend and snorted as he sipped his beer. “No. Honestly Colin I don’t know where you get these silly ideas” Colin ‘hmmed’ neutrally and reached to grab some fries from the huge pile in front of him. “Who is he?” Damian choked slightly. “Don’t you mean, ‘who is _she_?’” he asked, and Colin smiled wisely at his friend. “Not with that reaction, no. And if it was a she, you would have been grousing about her by now and making fun of her voice. And since you’re spacing out, I know you had sex, so that means you’re in a sexual relationship with a guy” he stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Damian gave his oldest friend a hard stare. “Sometimes I really hate how you can read me so easily” Colin shrugged and shoved his fries in his mouth. “Looong tiem pactice” he managed around the mouthful, and Damian made a face. “Chew and swallow before you talk” he reminded Colin, for maybe the thousandth time in that week alone. 

Damian spread his hands and leaned back. “Okay, so I’m in a sexual relationship with a guy. Don’t tell Stewart because he’ll be delighted to remind me off all the times I whacked him for checking out one of the boys at our private school” Colin smiled a little meekly. “You would kind of deserve it though, dude. Karma and all that jazz” Damian glowered at him and then sighed. “Okay, so I’m in a sexual relationship with another man. How did you get it into your head I...” Colin smiled and reached one massive hand over and wrapped it around one of Damian’s. “You only tap your fingers when you’re worried about somebody you really care about. And I’m just fine” Damian’s eyes widened a little and then he scowled and wrenched his hand out of Carter’s and looked away. “Don’t be stupid” he growled. Carter laughed slightly.

“Okay, so is he a looker, this guy you don’t like like but do?”

“I _don’t_ -”

“I’m teasing, ‘An”

Damian sighed and thought about it. He considered the thin and slightly chapped lips, the guarded eyes, the long dyed hair that was starting to show the orange-red hair underneath the black, the willing and athletic body he usually hid in, the way Terminal could go between victim and badass like the flipping of a coin. “Yes...well, he is very popular with people at the place he works” he stated. Colin winked. “You most of all, am I right?” Damian threw some of the fries at Colin, who warded them off with one arm as he laughed some more. 

“Colin, I don’t “fall in love” it’s just not something that could happen” Colin frowned and folded his arms. “Maybe because you’re too careful to let it, but I think this one caught you off guard” he said stubbornly and Damian sighed, deciding it better to let the topic drop for now. “Come on, dude. Finish your fries and then let’s get out of here. You’re making the waitress uneasy” 

 

~*~

 

They both heard it around the same time as they were walking. Scuffling and shouting coming from the nearby outdoors pool. Colin gravitated towards it and Damian followed, grumbling but curious. What he saw made his heart stop and cause him to curse. He pulled his hood of his black jacket up over his head as he began scaling the fence. 

 

They had just pushed a struggling Terminal’s head and shoulders into the water of the pool while holding the rest of his body still on the pavement beside it when Damian leaped to the other side of the fence and confronted the group. He cracked his knuckles and smirked cruelly under the hood of his jacket. “Alright, who wants to go first?” He had to move quickly or they’d kill Terminal while he was fighting his way to get to him. 

The funny thing about fighting was that it was like riding a bike; it might be iffy for a few moments but you quickly remembered how to move right. The idiots got maybe one punch in before Damian got back into the swing (hehe) of things and started knocking them flat and sending as many as he could headfirst into the pool as he headed for Terminal and the bastards holding him down. He swung one who leaped at him by the arm into one of the ones holding Terminal down, Terminal himself barely moving now. 

He grabbed the only one left by the neck and ripped him away from Terminal, throwing him into the fence before turning his attention to the still form halfway floating just underneath the surface of the water. His foot was twitching and there were some bubbles coming from his nose still, so Damian hoped that meant Terminal was still alive. He didn’t know how to save a life, especially from drowning, so he just did what he saw in the movies. Pounding on Terminal’s chest and giving the ‘kiss of life’ and hoping for the best. After maybe the fourth time of breathing into his mouth a small fountain of water bubbled out of Terminal’s mouth and he spit out water and took in a deep breath before coughing and turning onto his side, chest heaving. Damian raised his eyes to the sky. “I don’t believe in you, but thanks anyway” he said quickly and quietly. He had to give credit where credit was due, and it certainly wasn’t him that had been responsible. He hadn’t even known what he was doing. 

Stress and Tim’s Catholic upbringing and sporadic references to miracles was obviously messing with his head. 

Damian heard the watery wheezing and turned Terminal back onto his back, punching him in the stomach and noting with some relief he vomited water. Grasping hands made their way to his shirt and he gathered the younger man into his arms, letting Terminal find some comfort after the near death experience. “So, is this the guy you like?” Damian had forgotten Colin was there and gave the red-head an ‘are you serious right now?’ expression before sighing. This is the one I’m sleeping with, yes” Colin wiped his nose as he surveyed the scene around him. “I know you don’t believe in the soulmate theory but...” 

“Oh, shut up Colin”   
Colin raised his hands. “Just saying. Seems you both get in like, weird violent situations now and then. And you did rescue him. I mean, didn’t your grandpa tell you ‘help no-one who can’t help themselves’? Plus, we became best friends after getting into a fist fight, so there’s that” Damian sighed and rubbed Terminal’s back for a few moments. He didn’t know if it did any good though so he stopped after a moment. “He’s one of the Jokerz so no doubt this was a meeting gone wrong, I am completely convinced this is one of those people so used to standing on his own he loses balance trying to lean on anyone and is more than qualified for my help because of that. And we only became friends because I felt sorry for you” Colin chuckled at the last bit. “Of course you did”

Damian chose to ignore him and instead focused on Terminal. He was shaking like a leaf as he clutched at Damian’s shirt like it was a lifeline. Wild and unfocused eyes opened and his hand clenched into the shirt harder, actually ripping it. “W-wasn’t expecting-ganged up-stole my gun!” Damian was impressed he got that much out without biting off his tongue from the way his teeth were chattering. Damian sighed and touched Terminal’s cheek. “Hush now. Focus on breathing. Then we’ll work out how to get you home” 

“Or we could look in his wallet and see if he’s one of those people that puts their address on the little card thingies most people throw away” Colin said helpfully and Damian stared at him. “Why do you know those things exist?” He honestly never really paid attention to the good wallets and what came in them. So if one of those was still in his wallet, he wouldn’t know. Colin reddened and shrugged. “An emergency a while back. But not with me. I’ve been talking to Nigma’s daughter, she’s so nice” he smiled a bit dreamily and Damian raised his eyebrows at him. “Alright, obviously we need to talk more. I mean, I guessed you were dating, but she never even crossed my mind” it was strange that Colin seemed to know more about Damian than Damian did about him for once, and Damian made a mental note to remedy that. 

Damian slipped his hands into a few pockets before locating the wallet (surprisingly; he was expecting it to be stolen) and opening it. His ID was there, some receipts for groceries and twenty dollars with change. Finally, he found the little faux id card in the back, neatly filled in with all of Carter’s information. Damian snorted in disbelief. Who on earth would fill one of these out? They seemed like a security risk! But, the fact that it was filled out was a blessing for them, since Terminal appeared to have given in to exhaustion in Damian’s arms. Damian stood up and wrestled the limp body upright as well, heaving Terminal over his shoulder before realizing the gate to the pool was probably locked and he cursed. “Hey ‘An? Think they’ll care I maybe ripped a hole in the fence?” This was why Colin was his best friend. “With their past track record, they will probably blame it on the idiots in the pool” Damian reasoned, and he and Colin quickly slipped through the hole that Colin had indeed made in the fence. 

 

~*~

 

Damian noted with interest that the apartment Terminal lived in wasn’t actually that far from where he had found him outside of the Random Bean the first time, and thus not that far from the park where the first kiss had happened (and their encounter the night before, actually. Probably just because it was easy to get to on Terminal’s case) Damian roused Terminal a little to get the floor and number of the apartment, much as he would have rather let the man be completely unaware Damian had found out where he lived without his permission. But, Terminal seemed a little too out of it to really question it and told Damian. His keys were connected to a chain on his pants and it was only a matter of getting to the correct door and getting the right key off the ring and into the keyhole. Colin had only gone with them as far as the building despite Damian feeling he still needed him, but the giant red-head had merely shook his head. “If he wakes up fully, I’m going to scare him. Besides, he needs _you_ more than you need me as emotional support” Damian didn’t agree, but he had never been one to openly admit that he needed support or help of any sort, so he let Colin go. 

At least the building had an elevator. Old, but it seemed to work fine. Damian took advantage of it to put Terminal down and give his shoulder a break. Terminal finally seemed to wake up a little and be lucid as well, which did give Damian some relief. He groaned and rubbed his chest and neck, his voice raw from the chlorinated water that had been forced down his throat. “What-?” Damian nudged the younger man with his foot, who craned his neck up, and then gritted his teeth and put a hand over his eyes. “Now I know you stalk me” he grimaced. 

Damian felt a bit put out with the accusation. “Memorizing your work schedule is not stalking” he defended, and Terminal snorted with laughter. “I happened to be at a bar with a friend by the pool those freaks were trying to drown you in” he stated with regained calmness and Terminal’s laughter died away. “Do you mind telling me, your savior, what happened?” Terminal rolled his eyes. “You have a huge fucking ego” he grumbled. Damian smiled slightly.

The elevator dinged and the door opened as Terminal waved Damian’s offered hand away. “If I don’t try on my own it’s going to bother me” Damian could understand that and backed away. Terminal coughed and worked on getting to his feet, not nearly as unsteady as Damian thought he would have been. “You know how yesterday I had to go grab Prank? Well, he’s sort of been the source of a lot of controversy. Not all the Jokerz are a big fan of the kid” That was interesting. Although Damian supposed everyone had their limits to the amount of bs they could take, even Jokerz. 

Terminal made his way out of the elevator, supporting himself on the wall, but he was still doing it on his own. “Well, today Harley sent me to negotiate with some Jokerz threatening to split off the group. So I went and well...” he shrugged. “You saved me from the conclusion” Damian nodded, not really bothered by the unconcerned tone Terminal had with almost dying. It was just one of the hazards of his lifestyle. If Damian had stayed in Arabia, he had no doubt his life would have looked rather similar to Terminal’s. Damian followed Terminal to his door and waited. Terminal paused and sighed. 

“I’m pretty sure I can take it from here” Damian shrugged though inside he was a little frustrated. He had saved the boy’s life and _still_ wasn’t allowed in the apartment? What did it take?! And then frustration turned to horror that he actually cared this much at all. “I’ll see you later today then” he said neutrally, letting nothing of his frustration or confusion show through. Terminal unlocked his door and turned around to look at Damian, the barest hint of a smile on his lips. He paused, looked down, and then quickly leaned up to kiss Damian’s cheek. “Thanks though. I mean it” 

Damian didn’t flee, he just nodded once and turned to walk very, very quickly back to the elevator. He didn’t want to admit that maybe, Colin was right.


	9. She

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donnie decides to take things into his own hands. God help all involved.

"Why're ya all wet?"

"I was almost drowned in a pool protecting your sorry hide from people who hate you. Bug off, pest"

Donnie observed his current babysitter seriously for s moment. Terminal was slumped onto his table, still damp from the night before an with the froggy voice of someone who swallowed chlorine. When he glared at Donnie his eyes were bloodshot. But if someone had tried to kill him, it did beg the question how he had survived. "Who savedya then, dude?" Terminal glared at him, opened his mouth, and then groaned and dropped his head on the table once more. 

"Never you mind" he muttered. "Go away. Try not to break any more of my shit, either" and that was all Donnie could get out of him. 

So he decided to take matters into his own hands. Stalk Terminal starting that day onward and just observe. It would probably give him answers, and plenty of teasing material.plus, given he _liked_ his sister's ex, it just made the deal sweeter. When Terminal went into the shower nDonnie waited patiently outside it and jumped the goth when he was done and safely in the rest of his loft. Don't e straddled the surprised and winded man's chest and sniffed his wet hair. Mint and strawberries. A marked improvement over chlorine and fear. "Donnie, we've been over this. I don't go for adolescents!" Donnie tilted his head. "You used to say that, ad add you didn't go for guys, either" a faint flush colored Terminal's pale cheeks. He smacked Donnie off and rolled back to his feet, hands clutching his towel. 

"Well, things change. Go get ready for school, I need to go get dressed. I have work today" Donnie smirked and folded his arms as he stood up. "This have anything to do with being rescued last night?" Terminal froze for the fraction of as second before shaking his head and Donnie grinned in victory. Terminal was usually better at his poker faced, but this just made it easier for Donnie. "Get off the damn subject brat!" With that Terminal grabbed his clothes up and retreated back into his bathroom. Donnie just smirked at the closed door. Terminal had no idea how important this was. The only person Donnie would relinquish his obsession to was someone he deemed worthy.

~*~

For the first two days there was nothing remotely interesting going on. Terminal went to work, cooked or waited tables, went home, and then wandered the streets for hours at a time. Not that Donnie minded, the cafe had some amazing characters as well and he knew who he would switch to when he moved on from Terminal. Her name was Nissa and she was _awesome!_ The first time Donnie saw her she had tossed some creep into the dumpster. It was idolization at first sight. The girll took no shit, just like Donnie's favorite mom, Harley Quinn. Nissa seemed to be capable of being nice too, which just upped Donnie's feelings for the girl he had yet to talk to. But, he was there on a mission and not ennven cocoa-skinned lovelies would get him side-tracked.

It was the third day that something happened. Donnie caught Terminal making out with some tall dark hunk in an alley behind the cafe. Donnie was safely behind the dumpster ad unnoticed. He had to put a hannd over his mouth to keep in the shout of laughter. Oh, this was priceless Anne better than he expected. After a time the two broke apart, though the dark stranger was still cupping Terminal's cheek."Will you ever tell me why you try to keep yourself emotionally distannnt from me?" Donnie frowned at that. The last time Terminal had been in a relatinship, he had been so caught up in it Donnie had taken to calling him the triplet. Was Deidrevthe reason Terminal was so mean now? If so Donnie was killing her turtle. He actually liked Freddie but punishments must be had. 

Meanwhile Terminal had turned away from the man and wrapped his arms around himself. So Donnie decided to help. He wriggled out from behind the dumpster and folded his arms defiantly at the two staring at him. Yes, he had a rotten tomato on his head, what of it? "Her name is Deirdre" he said. "She happens to be my adoptive sister. They used to be so close you''d think they were conjoined at the hiip, but then she broke it off and broke his heart" Donnie turned and ran away before Terminal could kill him, laughing all the way on the outside but inside he was screaming. He hated Deirdre now, and wanted to know who the man who obviously loved Terminal was.


	10. New Chains to Bind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heart wants what it wants when it wants it

The realization his heart was once more stolen, and this time not by a petite blond with blue eyes, came as suddenly and surprisingly as a piece of sky crashing into an apartment. It shouldn’t happen, couldn’t happen, but there it was. And he had to face it. 

It had all started with Damian grabbing Prank by the scruff of his neck and tossing him out of the cafe. He’d been saving Nissa from Prank’s ‘affections’-namely, a bouquet of torn up primroses and a rubber chicken with it’s head cut off. Nissa had had the composure and strength not to scream at the ‘gifts’ but had instead calmly told the kid to go rethink his life choices, hampered in her speech choices by the fact she was working. Damian had not taken kindly to Joker’s adopted brat disturbing someone he offhandedly had said he considered family. So out Prank went. Which saved Terminal and Nissa both from two more hours of torture from the brat. 

But Terminal had realized he’d lost his heart in the process. So he’d done the only thing he could think of, he removed himself from the vicinity of Damian and hid in a corner of the break room until he was sure Damian had given up and left. But when he went back out, he noticed the line of lockers had been disturbed. Namely, his. He pulled the open door the rest of the way and looked inside.

Deidre’s photo was gone and Carter’s mind froze and his heart clenched. Yes, he still had that there. No, he couldn’t bear to get rid of it. It had been a picture of his-their-apartment. She’d been wearing an oversized shirt of his and his old letterman jacket, holding her old polaroid camera and laughing at Carter, who had been doing an impression of one of the forensic scientists from Central City, a goof with red hair. Their voices were similar so he had totally pulled off making fun of the guy. The memory was bittersweet because it had been the night before she’d been caught in the warehouse. It had really been the last good time and he couldn’t let it go.

And now the photo was gone. 

Terminal’s eyes welled up with tears and for the first time since she left him, he cried. Right there at work, he cried. He cried for losing her and he cried for falling in love again and he cried because things were changing and he wasn’t sure he liked it. He was full of despair and he couldn’t take it anymore. Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder. He looked over and found Abby standing there. He curled into her and bawled like a child while she stroked his head and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Every way a mother was supposed to be. It took several minutes before he was done. “Sug. Go home” Abby said tenderly. Terminal wasn’t about to argue. 

 

~*~

 

“Your face is all puffy, were you crying?” 

“Prank, go away or so help me I’ll kill you” Terminal snarled and laid his head on his arms on his kitchen table. He heard the clunking of boots and then the slamming of a door. Terminal closed his eyes.

He didn’t _want_ to feel what he was feeling, especially not about Damian. Damian was surely in it only for the sex. He always was. He used girl after girl and then kicked them to the curb. As far as Terminal knew, there were still three or four other girls he was seeing. He was superb at flings, and Terminal was in love with him. The cold, calculating bastard that had his heart in a stranglehold, damn him. There wasn’t a chance that the feeling was reciprocated. _But would someone in it for the sex save your life?_ his mind whispered to him, and his eyes shot open as his heart clenched again. 

Terminal shoved away from the table and began pacing. Up and down, up and down. From bedroom to kitchen and back again, over and over again. Suddenly his phone beeped and he checked it. It was Damian. Terminal desperately wanted to see him in that moment, with every fiber of his being. But at the same time he didn’t. He thought about it for all of two seconds before he gave into the yearning and grabbed his coat. He didn’t normally run from problems. He vanquished them. 

Damian was waiting in the ratty apartment and Terminal slipped in, quiet and subdued. Damian looked at him with slight concern. “What’s wrong with you? have you been crying?” Terminal gave him as steely a glare as he could muster and took off his coat. Damian frowned. “Speak to me, Terminal” he ordered and Terminal growled. He advanced slowly on the man that owned his heart and proceeded to strip as he did so. This is what Damian wanted. It was also what Terminal was willing to give. By the time he got to Damian, the man’s pupils were blown and he was aroused, and Terminal was completely naked. Terminal began battling with the buttons of Damian’s shirt, longing to make him naked as well, to finally have him as undressed as Terminal always was, to be in at least one way on Terminal’s level. 

“Carter, stop”

The voice was raspy with arousal but commanding enough to get the younger man to freeze. Terminal looked into Damian’s eyes half defiantly and half desperately. “I need this” he whispered, meaning ‘I need _you_ ’ instead. Damian began toeing off his shoes and gripped Terminal’s arm tightly. When he got his socks and shoes off he began leading Terminal, instead of to the rickety old chair, the bedroom .Terminal’s breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened. It would be their first time on a bed. All these weeks and they’d never done it on a bed. Somehow, that was important to him. But first...

“All your clothes Damian. I want you bare” Damian turned at the authority in the voice with a question written on his face. Terminal shook his head and once more attacked Damian’s clothes. Damian mildly protested but didn’t fight too hard. Maybe he was afraid Terminal would rip his shirt. Finally, finally Terminal saw Damian with his shirt off. 

There were old scars as if from knives on his chest and stomach, a deep looking scar by his heart. When he turned, there were whip scars on his back. Terminal let Damian lead him to the bedroom, and proceeded to push Damian onto the bed. He reverently kissed every scar on Damian’s stomach and chest. He tried to push Damian further but the older man, apparently tired of the silent treatment and odd behavior grabbed Terminal and threw him down onto the bed. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’m going to force you to say something one way or another” he growled. Terminal yelped as Damian bent down and bit one of his nipples. 

It was just a few minutes before Terminal was a panting mess. He had apparently needed this. Though a large part of the reason this was getting to him this time was because this was now more than a quick fuck to him. And with him so out of sorts he was actually letting Damian take it slow for the first time. The first time Carter had had gentle sex since before Deidre had become a psycho from trauma. Practiced hands massaged his chest and shoulders, traced his muscles and stroked his hips and stomach. Damian’s mouth brushing his stomach and chest, licking and making small kisses on him. He leaned over again and brushed a hand against Terminal’s face. “Shh baby shh” Terminal hadn’t realized he’d been crying till that moment, and proceeded to cry harder. Damian kissed his wet cheeks and caressed Terminal’s face. If Terminal didn’t know any better, he’d say Damian was being loving. But that was just wishful thinking.

And then the actual act began, first with Damian making sure to properly prepare him this time, and then slowly, so slowly Terminal was entered and Damian pressed against him as the goth tossed his head and clenched his hands, which were raised by his head and laying there. Loved. He felt loved. But it wasn’t possible. Damian didn’t ‘love’. Each thrust picked up speed, but it was nowhere near the punishing, almost painful pace that Damian usually went. Terminal closed his eyes and lost himself in the illusion that he was loved and cared for by Damian Wayne. Eventually they both climaxed.

“You’re beautiful”

 

“I-I llllo...Damian kiss me”

Damian stared at Terminal for a long moment, obviously confused and concerned, but leaned down and met Terminal’s waiting lips.

Maybe this wasn’t love, but a heart could dream.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love is a funny thing, and exes are bitchy

Terminal was emotionally exhausted. Prank was following him and Nissa around like a stray dog and Damian had been exceedingly gentle since that night that Terminal had basically thrown himself at him. The whole circumstance made Terminal feel deep shame. Shame for daring to love someone so high above him and once again a bit emotionally abusive, daring to love a _man_ because try as he might he couldn’t get over that hang-up of the ghost of his mother whispering how utterly wrong this feeling and attraction was. And most of all, daring to hope that just perhaps Damian loved him too.

Terminal looked up in time to see Nissa trying to work and Prank badgering her. His blood started boiling and emotional exhaustion was translated to rage. He marched over and grabbed the boy’s arm as Damian walked in, unnoticed by Terminal.

“Prank for the love of god I’m tired of you pestering her!” He said loudly. “You stalk her home and then you come back to me, and repeat the process the next day. How about you grow some sense, actually try to get to know her naturally, and let us work in peace!” with that he dragged the shocked boy out of the cafe with people looking on in stunned silence and Nissa trying not to grin. Damian clapped slowly and others joined in, causing Terminal to notice them for the first time. His face went a deep red and he lowered his head so his hair fell in front of his face. Once he desired and craved attention, but now he just wanted to hide. Especially from the proud look on Damian’s face. 

Terminal left his loft’s key under the check, a tiny corner poking out to tip Damian off. Damian carefully took the check and key and watched as his lover receded into the back. Terminal put a hand over his thudding chest and another hand to his burning cheek. He’d acted on exhaustion and tossed Prank out on his ear, and then he’d done something as dramatic as giving the key to Damian _in a place they could be caught_ on complete impulse. He needed a lie-down, all this recent business was messing with his head. 

“So, you and Damian, huh?”

Terminal froze and the blood in his veins turned to ice. He turned around slowly and saw Nissa standing there with a wry grin and serious eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about” he said quietly and tried to move past her.

“I saw you give him Deedee’s key, Terminal” she said and once more he froze. He swallowed and his suddenly dry throat clicked. She put a hand on his shoulder. “He hasn’t been such a dick back at the manor and you’ve been happier. I don’t care. Just remember to not make out in an alley, okay? I’ll relay the same message to him too. Relax, if you break each other’s hearts. I’ll beat both your asses” she grinned at him and he smiled wanly at her before rushing past her and into the cafe. 

Carter and Damian both had admierers who came to the cafe. Sometimes Damian’s tried to sit with him, despite Damian being adamant that he sit alone. Sometimes Terminal wondered who Damian was saving the seat for. Sometimes he imagined the seat was for him. 

Today it was Bunny Vreeland. She flung the door open and stood as though posing before bustling to Damian with a shriek. “DAMIEEEEE!!!!”

Damian actually got up and Terminal had a feeling he was going to try and bolt. But too late, Bunny wrapped her arms around him and kissed his nose and Damian’s face became a blank mask. Terminal set Damian’s tiramisu down and cleared his throat. His blood was starting to boil again, and he wasn’t sure if it was from anger that someone didn’t respect the comfort levels of another, or jealousy, or both. Why didn’t he have the courage to kiss Damian’s cheek in public? Maybe because he was a fling and Bunny was a close friend of the family. 

Damian detached himself from Bunny and took the tiramisu, sitting down. Bunny sat across from him and didn’t even look at Terminal. “Just some tea for me, thanks. Oh, and a cookie” 

“What kind of cookie?”

She looked at Terminal as if he were stupid. “Raisin cranberry of course”

“We don’t have that but the rosemary butter cookie is quite good if I do suggest”

She sneered at him but shrugged and he went to get her a cookie. Damian had been seeing the woman off and on for years and Terminal just considered her background noise, especially since they were currently not together. But if they did get back together, where did he fit in? His stomach felt funny. 

He got the woman her tea and cookie and walked back out. She was chattering about nothing and Terminal could see Damian struggling not to lose his temper. Terminal put the tea and cookie in front of her and glanced at Damian sympathetically. Bunny made a noise and Terminal looked back at her and stared into deeply cold eyes. He flinched backwards. For a moment he saw his mother in her face. 

“Did you make the cookie?”

He looked around, feeling like he was drowning. Yes he’d made the cookies, but what did that matter? She was trying to trap him, he knew it. Hesitantly he nodded and she looked past Terminal to Damian. 

“I don’t see why you like this classless little place. The waiters make the food. Ugh, he could have spat in the cookie batter”

“I happen to know the woman who runs the facility Bunny and she makes sure the waiters stay in line. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work” Damian’s eyes flitted past Terminal when they usually lingered and Terminal felt like screaming. The day he had to choose to give Damian the key, Damian’s old squeeze had to come flouncing in. 

 

~*~

Terminal finished his double shift for the day and took the subway to his apartment. He just wanted to eat pizza since his oven didn’t work and watch old movies. Maltese Falcon deserved a rewatch. He leaned against the wall of the elevator until it dinged his floor and shuffled to his door, unlocking it and flicking on the lights. Damian was sitting at his table and Terminal felt his heart do a flip and his hands and legs go nerveless, causing him to drop his carrier bag and fall to his knees. Damian was up and over to him in an instant, slinging the bag over his own shoulder and picking up the smaller male in a bridal carry. Terminal hit him lightly. 

“Put me down”

 

“So you can fall again? I don’t think so” Terminal went red, and it got darker when Damian laid him down on the couch and knelt beside him. Like a proper concerned lover. Terminal suddenly felt caged and anxious and like he couldn’t breathe. “Damian what-”

“I think I love you Terminal”

Carter sat bolt upright and put a hand to his thundering heart. His ears were roaring and he was faint. This wasn’t happening. Not after today. There were more suitable people for Damian Wayne, not…

Not his waiter in a little cafe in the downtown with hardly a penny to his name and a criminal record. 

“You know nothing about me” he said hollowly. “How can someone like you possibly love someone like me, who’s just a toy to-to-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence” Damian said sharply and took Terminal’s hand and kissed it gently, reverently. Terminal put a hand over his mouth and blinked away happy tears. This had to be a dream. 

“I...I think...maybe-”

“Don’t say it if you’re not sure”

“Okay”  
Terminal’s heart started singing and he brought Damian up onto the couch with him and curled into the sturdy chest. He sighed and felt strong arms wrap around him.

“Let’s try this out” Damian said in barely more than a breath into Carter’s ear and Carter gulped. 

“I’m, I’m not ready to go public” he said hesitantly and Damian shrugged.

“So we eat dinner here, I just want to show you you’re loved” Carter closed his eyes. 

“Then stay through the night. Just hold me close and stay through the night” dinner and a movie alone was now not an option. He wasn’t even hungry anymore. Knowing he was loved by Damian was different than being loved by Deidre. He felt excited and scared and ready to shout for joy now. But despite this, or maybe because of it, he fell asleep in Damian’s arms. When he woke up, it was morning and Damian was sleeping with Terminal on his chest, head thrown back and face looking so so young. 

Terminal smiled. He was loved, and loved in return.

What could be better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bunny comes from the first episode of Batman Beyond, she's the girl being held hostage. Because we never see her again, obviously she doesn't have a personality. So, I gave her one.


End file.
